Raise the Hammer

I hope those who are new to Hamilton and reading this blog do not get the false impression that Locke Street had a seismic shift into what it is today. If you read some history into Locke Street, it has always had a firm root in defining Hamilton: http://www.lockestreet.com/historybytes/index.html
For me, the bigger story is Ottawa Street. How a once thriving textile corridor that saw visitors from as far as Buffalo come to grab high quality fabrics right in the heart of Hamilton's industrial core become obliterated with the rapid loss of manufacturing and the globalization of the textile industries to be what it is today is a true testament of Hamilton grit.
Locke has always had the "privilege" of its Kirkendall residents to ensure its sustainability. Ottawa Street, I would argue, not as much so... With grit, grass root investments and a growing engaged citizenry, Hamilton East around the Ottawa Street corridor and Gage Park is showing a true picture of Hamilton revitalization.
Not to take away from the author, but once you have spent your Saturday on Locke, go to Ottawa St on Sunday to get a feel for all sides of Hamilton's urban renewal.

Remember stuff like Light Computer and the Computer Trade In Post on Locke St? Sorry to be unfashionable but I guess I liked Locke St. in the 90s when it was "desperate" and not selling $30 bars of soap. I guess not all of us have the same definition of "desperate".

Love Bread Bar, Locke St. Bagel and stuff too. It's just I guess not everyone is down with the modern Yorkville vibe.

Too expensive.

Don't look, but $30 bars of soap are for sale now on James N too. Times have changed in this town.

Locke was in downright rough shape for many years and became known as a biker hangout. It's a much better street now than it was in the 80s until early 2000's.
Ottawa is also fantastic, with a different vibe. Ole Gourmet and a retro cafe/all-day breakfast diner are about to open on Ottawa St. Hoping for great success there. I was on Parkdale and Kenilworth yesterday and see gobs of potential on those streets too. First off, we need to lose the live curb lane and build permanent parking bumpouts with trees and gardens on both sides. There also appeared to be space for bike lanes between the parking and live centre lane. Remove parking restrictions for development and encourage mixed-use, artists lofts, affordable apartments and condos and I think those streets could resemble Queen East Leslieville in TO or various urban retail hoods through Portland.

won't let me edit, so here is the rest:

Portland decided years ago to focus revitalization efforts in an incremental manner emphasizing walkability and easy curb-side parking on streets with low slung buildings in various states of repair such as Kenilworth, Parkdale etc.... Have a look: http://www.neighborhoodnotes.com/news/20...

Have a look through these many mini-galleries of Portland walk-up neighbourhoods. This could be the future of Dundurn, Parkdale, Kenilworth, Barton, and stretches of Cannon such as between Ottawa and Gage and from Ferguson to Bay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neighborhoo...

Even little micro-hoods could develop such as this block of retail/infill potential on Melvin adjacent to Parkdale: http://goo.gl/maps/ryFfA

Or this node on Sherman, just north of Barton: http://goo.gl/maps/E8UfF

We've sacrificed all of these former walk-up areas for the privilege of high speed car traffic. Yet, stable dense residential hoods abound all around these streets. Folks would love to have pharmacies, cafes, fruit stands, butchers and mini-grocers to walk to instead of having to drive or take long bus rides to big box grocery stores on the far ends of the city.

My absolute favourite stretch in Hamilton just ripe for a road diet, trees, 24-7 parking and ample bike parking is Cannon between Ottawa and Gage: http://goo.gl/maps/IJrm7

Ranko's Deli is there, Crash Landing, China City at Gage, and a great collection of small storefronts and neighbourhood retail potential all the way from Gage to Ottawa. "Stroll" the street from here at Gage, to Ottawa and look at the incredible potential for neighbourhood amenities and improved quality of life similar to all of those photo galleries from Portland: http://goo.gl/maps/W2ypz

I would give up every cafe and salon on Locke if it would bring back Edible Roots and Ron's Big Easy.

... and yeah, R.I.P. Light Computer, a Locke South pioneer and quiet practitioner of adaptive reuse.

http://www.marketnews.ca/content/index/page?pid=11537

Shame that there isn't enough market demand for an independent Apple dealer in the lower city these days.

Locke street with its small scale stores to survive should sell unique staff that big boxes do not sell. When you need some presents/gifts/cakes/cookies etc or original made in Canada things. Those things cannot be cheap. But you pay for something special and unique because there is just as much of them.

Do Locke Street merchants own their buildings, or are they subject to the whims of landlords? Queen St. West in Toronto became overly corporate very quickly, when independent merchants could not manage large increases in rent.

Interesting that Starbucks is now in Jackson Square. Presumably the arrival of NationsFresh is pulling in the middle-class customers of interest to Starbucks.

This is rich, the master of hating anyone who has a paycheque and god forbid they spend it in downtown Hamilton is lamenting the loss of an Apple computer store!?

Locke Street has what very well could be Hamilton's greatest piece of public art; the walking poetry that is embedded into the sidewalk's concrete. When I was a newcomer to the city, I was lucky in that someone told me that a stroll down the street was a great date, and we spent most of the time staring at our feet reading, rushing to the next plaque. Johnny's cafe is probably my favourite low-key place to relax in the neighbourhood today, and it doesn't get nearly enough credit for the great little business that it is.

That's a bit much...I could equate Locke now to Bloor West of the mid 90s. Hamilton doesn't need a Yorkville, it has Burlington as it neighbour... :P

An interesting article but it begs the question what next? Merchants will make business decisions on whether to stay on Locke or move in if they haven't already. What can the City do to facilitate that continued growth? The two things that pop to mind are: a) utility and telephone service ought to be buried when re-surfacing of Locke takes place; and b) parking/cycling/bus attraction. I know Councillor McHattie has been working quietly on the parking issue but that is just one issue that is tied closely to the others. If you want to attract pedestrian traffic you have to make the walkways pedestrian friendly. The crosswalks are a great quick win - let's not stop with that good first step.

Can everyone please stop using the term "begs the question"? It doesn't mean "raises the question". If you want to say "raises the question", just say it. If you aren't sure if "begs the question" is correct in any given circumstance, chances are VERY HIGH that it is NOT the correct use. So it's easier to just never use it. Unless you are a logician - or you want to sound pompous (and wrong).

http://begthequestion.info/

The correct usage of "begs the question" is one of the most self-contradicting quirks of the English language since the difference between "flammable" and "inflammable". If the dictionary can redefine "literally" as "figuratively" and "because [noun]", then I'm gonna take "begs the question" to mean "raises the question" because sense.

Comment edited by Pxtl on 2013-11-28 13:31:00

can we stop using "because " too? I know it's officially allowed now but it sounds like a cheese grater going to work on the eardrums. It begs the question: Because why?

i meant "because (noun)"

"While descriptivists and other such laissez-faire linguists are content to allow the misconception to fall into the vernacular, it cannot be denied that logic and philosophy stand to lose an important conceptual label should the meaning of BTQ become diluted to the point that we must constantly distinguish between the traditional usage and the erroneous "modern" usage. This is why we fight."

Think I'm on the other side of this fight. Usage trumps logic.

Except for the "literally means not-literally" thing. That's just wrong.

Locke street was never a biker haven and it has never been run down. A few of the buildings may have gotten a little tired over the years, but Locke has always been a nice commercial area.

We already have a phrase for "raises the question". It's "raises the question". It was not so bad in the old days when people used phrases they didn't understand because it was not so easy to find out the true meanings, but really, we have the internet now and it takes 12 seconds to find out that this usage is wrong. Not knowing the difference is forgivable... once. I used to use it, too, before it was so easy to look such things up. Continuing incorrect usage - especially on an internet forum where google is "literally" one click away - betrays one's laziness.

Because lazy

The only way to make literally sound worse is when it's pronounced "li-tra-lee", which literally makes my ears bleed. Figuratively.

Another word we could just do without. There is literally no circumstance where it's absolutely necessary to use the word literally.

"I heard a smart person use a phrase once and I don't know what it means but I'm going to use it anyways because I want to sound smart too!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJYpActs7g

it must be awful to have a conversation with you

Just the beginning folks... Developments of 101 Locke and Pearl Street bridge on the brink, lets not forget a new coffee house in the church. We are just getting started.

Comment edited by PearlStreet on 2013-11-29 01:56:26

It's only awful for those who have no sense of humour

i agree totally. locke street is totally suburban and totally lacks the character of the rest of the city, like the meadowlands. you know, a real community area. or say lime ridge mall. i feel like when i wander those areas i am in the true hamilton.

>>Starbucks only moves into markets that can support an upscale coffee shop (RTH file photo)

So why, pray tell, is one opening in Jackson Square then?

NationsFresh in J Square is attracting people that Starbucks wants as customers.

Based on behind the scenes convos, Starbucks has been eyeing a JS spot long before Nations arrived. There's 20,000 office workers within spitting distance of the Sheraton, along with a very young college/university crowd. Nations is just one of a long series of investments and improvements in that area that is leading to new retailers and groups like Starbucks wanting to located in a downtown that 5 years ago they had no interest in. From the folks in the know that I've chatted with, the 20,000 office workers and upcoming Mac Health campus and new hotels/condos from Hess-Bay has really been the driver behind this.

Also, a Sheraton manager told me last week that along with the Starbucks, which opens on Monday, they are building a new restaurant in the lobby which will either be a sushi bar or oyster bar. They haven't yet decided.

Based on the constant crowds in Starbucks on Locke, and across from Mac and in the new Coffee Culture on King, I suspect we'll see more corporate chains arriving downtown. Those 3 coffee shops are always busy, day and night. I've been pleasantly surprised to see how busy Coffee Culture is late in the evening, every night of the week. I suspect the same will ring true of the JS Starbucks.

Comment edited by jason on 2013-11-30 10:59:23

Personally I try to support an independent coffeehouse, rather than a corporate chain.

If the LCBO in J Square relocated close to the Market, in a much larger space with more products on the shelves, it would be a boon to shoppers and further boost retail spend in the area.